Stories and Noodles
by Destiny Willowleaf
Summary: Long hours lead to days that seem to stretch on forever. The long days lead to weeks that never appear to end. The long weeks result in a tired owner waiting for a friend to help her out. But when he brings someone else along, maybe now she'll have someone to tell about her troubles.


**Just a little one-shot I thought up after watching Episode 71. Note that it also takes a bit of background from the books "A Team Divided" and "Legend of the Brown Ninja", which considering the time frames they are set in, I consider canonical to the series.**

After Kai and Nya left, Skylor let out a sigh she had been holding in. She was going to offer her help, but noooo, they only thought she was going to offer them a to-go box for the stuff they had been eating.

She considered continuing to sit at the booth and drowning her sorrows in noodles, but there were other customers to be served so her troubles would have to wait. She cleared the table and made her way to the front to see who was coming in. This went on for a few more hours, serving the few that would enter the shop. Ever since her father was sent to the Cursed Realm(and was then destroyed in said realm), business had plummeted. At first, it seemed as if no one wanted to be associated with his cult. The other Elemental Masters were some of the first few to support the business, and once the ninja came for a meal, people started to trust the business. There wasn't much trust, but it was there. Still, even now, when she had broken all ties to the past, there were still those who were afraid to come inside. It seemingly didn't matter to them that she had to go through hours of investigations, interrogations and paperwork to regain ownership of the company name and not have it crumble. She was happy the noodle house was currently cleared of charges, but the remnants of the past still had their effects.

Friday nights used to be the busiest hour of the night, with barely enough servers to go around and keep the customers happy. The chatter of customers, the clacking of skates across the tile, the music playing over the speakers, all of it making the atmosphere filled with joy and a sense of wanting to be there.

But not anymore.

Now she was the only server.

The chatter was reduced to a quiet mumble and only in corners of the restaurant.

The skates were pointless with only one server, so she stopped using them.

The music was there, but only sometimes.

It felt empty almost every night.

And tonight was no exception.

She shook away the feeling and instead tried to focus on her job. A quick check from the kitchen told her to deliver two chicken noodles to Booth 7. She carefully put the bowls on her tray, and made her way over to the booth. There were two people awaiting their food, which wasn't too odd. They might've been a couple, but she knew from past restaurant horror stories to never assume two people were going out because they sat next to each other and no one else was around, because sometimes they were just siblings or friends and would get very offended. She'd seen some of the stories first-hand at other places, and it was terrifying to watch the customers get enraged before stomping out without paying.

"Enjoy your meal," she said, placing the bowls on the table. The two customers began to dig in, still exchanging the occasional word or two. She studied them for a bit longer; she recognized the person on the left as someone who came in somewhat regularly, but the person to her right was a new face.

They struck up a casual conversation with her, but nothing too in-depth. She didn't even know their names by the time they left, which wasn't too unusual, but always a little saddening.

The lack of customers was actually a blessing sometimes, because it meant she had time to talk to everyone individually and they were able to lay down the troubles they were having without the worry that she might repeat them to someone else. People knew business was slow because of this, but those that came in were able to find solace in talking to someone about their issues instead of bottling them all up and hoping they wouldn't burst.

Besides money, that was the other thing she wish she had: someone to talk to.

After the two finished and paid for their meal, Skylor took a look around the restaurant again, wondering what else needed done.

But it was empty.

And quiet.

Until the clock rang 10 times.

10 PM. Closing time.

She was visibly relieved, and wanted to just collapse. But first, she had to pay the people who dedicated hours of their lives to help keep the place running. She ran into the back and came back out with their paychecks. Once everyone had received their money, they bid her farewell and left for the night.

She sat down in a nearby booth, before letting her upper body sprawl out over the table. Wait… wasn't she forgetting something?

The front door opened.

Right. She didn't lock it.

"I'm sorry, but we're closed for the night," she said, standing up to get a look at who entered.

There was a moment of silence, before a voice spoke up. "I thought you said she appreciated your help!"

"I guess not tonight…" a second voice added. Skylor's tired eyes popped open when she heard the second voice, and got a better look at who had just entered.

Standing in the doorway was Dareth, with a somewhat familiar face supported by crutches to the brown ninja's left.

"Dareth! I'm so sorry, I didn't realize it was you!" she explained, rushing over to him and shaking away the tired feeling from earlier. She smiled, and looked to the other person. "I swear I've seen you around before… Ronan?"

"Ronin," he corrected her, readjusting the crutches. "Dareth said there were nights where you appreciated a bit of extra help after hours for cleanup, so he suggested that we should drop by. Not like I had a choice, mind you."

"Well, I certainly do appreciate the extra help around here," she replied. "Do you want to sit down?"

"For now," Ronin replied, moving to the closest booth. He sat down on the edge, and shoved the crutches under the table.

Dareth made his way to the back of the restaurant, while Skylor stayed up front with Ronin for a bit longer.

"So... how did that happened to you?" she asked after a bit of silence.

"The leg? The weird snake guys. They pulled me out of my mech, and after Dareth found out they stole his trophies he got me down, but managed to smack me straight into a mech. I'm surprised only my leg broke," he explained, gesturing to the broken limb. "It's not all bad though. And besides, what right do I have to complain?"

Skylor was caught off-guard by his query. "What do you mean?"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't one of the main draws to this place the fact that you'll listen to your customers troubles and offer advice on the situation?"

"Yes. So what? You're here, so-"

"So it's after hours, and you probably spend a good portion of your day listening to everyone else's issues," Ronin ventured. "Thus, you never really get a chance to talk about the things weighing you down."

Skylor was silent for a moment, and before she got a chance to speak, Dareth came back with cleaning supplies. "Sorry it took a bit, but I couldn't find the-" He noticed the former thief and Skylor seemed to be in the middle of a conversation. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"Nothing important," Skylor quickly said, cutting off any attempt Ronin would've made.

"Oh!" Dareth replied. "Anyway, should we start? This place ain't gonna clean itself!"

Skylor took some of the supplies from Dareth and began working on cleaning the booths along the conveyor belt. The brown ninja set to work on the booths on the other side of the restaurant, leaving Ronin to sit and think by himself. There was no way Skylor was completely fine under the pressure of having to run a restaurant like this on her own.

But, just like Nya, she was stubborn and independent, unwilling to accept help from anyone else. He was going to have to find another way to ask her what was wrong.

"Hey, if it's not too much to ask," Skylor began, looking over to Ronin. "Could you check the conveyor belts? They seemed to be running kinda slow today."

"Sure." He got up from the booth, and, leaving the crutches behind, walked over to the belts.

"Wait, I thought-"

"It is broken. I just hate the crutches. They're annoying."

"But if you don't use them, won't it take longer to heal?"

"Not really. I've been through a lot of tough scrapes. This just happens to be the current one." With that, he disappeared under the belts to check on the mechanics.

She was a bit mad at first. He was just going to hurt himself more! Then a different thought arose in her mind: why should she care what he did?

"I don't know. Why do you care?"

Ronin's voice startled her from her thoughts. "How did you hear my thoughts? Last time I checked you weren't Neuro."

"You said it out loud," he laughed. It echoed a bit in the machinery. "But I don't mind."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Seems like more and more people are getting concerned for my health," Ronin explained, before turning towards Dareth with an increase in volume, "Even though I'm fine!"

"Spending New Year's mostly alone and claiming to be forever alone does not qualify for being fine!" the brown ninja replied without skipping a beat.

"So? Neither does interrupting a teenage romance with a plea for Puffy Potstickers."

Dareth gave a dramatic gasp, and placed a hand on his chest. "You hurt me."

Ronin gave a good-natured laugh in reply. "Yeah, right."

"Then again, nothing can hurt as much as failing at a business," Dareth added, before getting back to work.

Ronin made a noise of agreement, but noticed Skylor was looking a bit saddened by the last comment. "Hey, you alright?"

"Fine! I'm fine!" she insisted, shaking her head once more to dispel the sadness.

"I know that tone of voice," Ronin replied, quickly finishing up his check before standing up and facing Skylor from behind the conveyor belt-bar. "There's something up, and you haven't told anyone. Considering the situation it makes sense as to why; you don't want to bog customers down with your own issues, when they should be able to just tell you their problems. I know you won't tell them, but you don't seem to have anyone to tell your troubles to."

Skylor stood facing away from Ronin. "Yeah, so what? It's not like I could just ask the ninja to stop in. I mean, earlier today, Kai and Nya thought I was gonna offer them takeout when I was going to offer my help. It seems like the only thing I'm good for now to them is inexpensive high-quality noodles."

Ronin sat in silence, wondering if she realized what she had said. He looked over to Dareth, who was sort of listening to Skylor, and made a motion with his hand. The brown ninja nodded, and got back to cleaning the tables.

Then Ronin turned to Skylor. "Why don't you sit down?"

She seemed all-too-happy to oblige, head resting on her arms. "Why?"

"Because you need someone to talk to about your problems. And I could be that person, if you need me to."

"What?" The surprise was clear in her voice.

"You were just telling me about how the ninja couldn't fill that role, but also how Kai and Nya treated you earlier today. That's not something just to bottle up."

"But then what am I supposed to do? I can't just ask them now; they're off doing something big."

"Talk to them about it when they get back. While you may be a restaurant owner, you're also a big part of the team. After all, from what I've heard it was you and Kai pretending to be on Chen's side before double-crossing him and everyone getting their powers back."

"The only thing people seem to care about from that time is that I'm Chen daughter and he used to run this place, thus I must be using the same illegal methods he did, even though I had to prove I wasn't doing that to multiple investigation units and was questioned on the subject before I was able to own this place."

"So business has been rough, and that's what's tiring you down?"

"Mostly. There's just not enough money to go around, it seems."

"For workers or the food?"

"Sometimes, it feels like both. The bigger issue is the workers, though. I'm the only one left as a waiter, which means it's harder to have conversations with the customers and keep everything on schedule."

"Lemme guess: you can't hire any more work because you don't have the money?"

"Bingo." Skylor sighed, and tilted her position so she could see Ronin better.

"And the help Dareth brings makes the nights easier, right?"

Skylor gave a sleepy nod in reply, stifling a yawn.

"Tired?"

"Very."

Ronin gave her a small smile, and kept talking to her. The former thief continued to make conversation with her until Dareth had finished cleaning the tables, and by then Skylor was barely awake. It was nice to see the lack of sleep fading from her eyes as they continued to chat, and the sadness and loneliness hiding in her gaze seemed to leave altogether. She still tried to respond to his questions, which was the only was he knew she was still awake.

"Hey, Sky?" At some point in the conversation, he had switched to shortening her name to 'Sky', but she didn't seem to mind.

"Mhmm?"

"Where do you end up sleeping most nights?"

"Wha?"

"What he's trying to ask is if you live right above the shop or somewhere else," Dareth explained. He had put away the supplies since he had finished cleaning the tables, and was now engaging in the conversation.

"Above the shop," she mumbled. "Dareth, I thought you were-"

"I finished cleaning up for you. Like Rony said, you needed someone to talk to and turns out he was the one." Ronin rolled his eyes at Dareth's explanation, but the brown ninja didn't seem to notice the motion.

"Thanks…" Skylor trailed off, growing sleepier by the second. She shook herself awake again, though not for very long.

Ronin smiled, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "C'mon, Sky. Let's get you to bed."

She nodded, and began to make her way up the stairs, before turning around and saying, "I need to lock the door, don't I?'

Ronin and Dareth nodded in sync, and, after stopping to get Ronin's crutches, walked out the door. Skylor locked the door behind them, walked up the stairs, unlocked her door, relocked it behind her, and collapsed onto her bed.

Outside, Ronin and Dareth walked along the sidewalk, heading back to Ronin's shop. Once they arrived, Ronin bid Dareth farewell, and the brown ninja went on his way back to his shop.

" _Wonder if she noticed anything."_

 **And that's a wrap! Hope you enjoyed this little one-shot.**


End file.
